


A Great Woman

by PeaceLilies



Category: Motorcity
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2012-11-01
Packaged: 2017-11-17 12:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeaceLilies/pseuds/PeaceLilies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I had a lot of Duke&No.2(Babs) feels, so I wrote this. [In here, I call No. 2 Barbara because the common diminutive form for Barbara is Babs. Babs being her fandom given name. Anyway, that’s what was going on in my head. I wanted to explain.]</p>
<p>When the Duke meets No. 2 and how they've gotten to where they are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Great Woman

The saying goes that behind every great man there is a great woman…and the Duke of Detroit wasn’t an exception. He didn’t think of himself as such, in this case. Always a step behind and to his right, No. 2 was always there. She was behind him, but she was pretty great.

Before she was No. 2, before her and the Duke had even met, she was just Barbara. He was the only one who knew that. He called her Babs, when it was just the two of them.

She was a motorcycle racer, the best in fact. Word had spread pretty fast in Motorcity, in the early days, before he’d become the Duke of Detroit, and that’s how he’d heard of her. She was a racer, part-time driver for hirer and a bouncer. He’d found it a little unusual for a woman to have such credentials, but he was intrigued.

Trying to establish a reputation, to build up to something greater, well that would take a lot of work and you needed people to back you. Powerful people. She obviously didn’t have a lot of money or influence, but she clearly had a lot of guts.

The first time they met, she refused his offer.

I’m not gonna be your little lackey. So back off, Bub and go find some other girl.

And that’s when he knew he needed her. She had so much fire in her, so much courage. She was tough as nails and beautiful. He really respected her and so he pursued her, relentlessly. He tried wooing her. He bought her dozens of bouquets, offered to take her to some of the best restaurants and even bought her a new motorcycle (she returned it all). It wasn’t until he challenged her, that he got her attention.

She wasn’t a run of the mill bombshell, oh no. She was the real deal. She showed up in a skin tight red riding suit with a matching helmet that matched the color of her hair. If she won, she walked, if he won, she joined his team. She just chewed her gum, popping it in his face, calm as could be. Confident, not cocky.

It was nice knowing ya, she’d said. And she was being sincere.

He isn’t sure to this day, who won, if anyone did at all. They never finished the race. She was run off the road by a rival gang that was after him. Everything had turned out fine, the gang was taken care of and he went looking for her.

Duke didn’t consider himself a compassionate person. He did things selfishly, for his own personal gains, but Barbara intrigued him like no one else ever had. He was afraid for her, when he saw the burning wreckage of her bike.

She was alive, but pretty battered up and bruised. She ended up losing an eye, and they’d replaced it with a robotic one. He stayed with her during her recovery. She was a funny lady and sharp as a whip.

So I guess I owe you one.

Her new eye was fully functional, but a little off putting. So she started wearing sunglasses. He made the sunglasses a mandatory part of the uniform, just for her.

They started building up an empire. They created a huge network of contacts, gained various, major junkyards, and started fixing up his cars. It was an impressive endeavor and she was there the whole time.

She was good at what she did. She was organized, smart, and tough…but people liked her. She had a charm about her and quite a smile. The underlings respected and listened to her.

She put up with his shenanigans, taking it in stride as just who he was. He had a reputation to uphold. He’d offered her the title Duchess, but she refused.

I don’t like the spotlight like you do, Duke. No. 2 works for me. 

He gave her a wing of the house to herself, to do what she liked. As he collected cars, she collected bikes. She built a partial garage that housed them all. She had two rooms converted into a giant closet and the rest were like a penthouse suit. She had a master bedroom and bath, full kitchen, living room and dining room. When the mansion had been finished, he’d had her room filled with roses.

They had dinner in the Grande Dining Room, cracked open a bottle of champagne, and sat on the balcony that overlooked Motorcity.

Motorcity is our oyster, Babs, he said, making a toast. She finished her champagne in one go, took off her glasses, and looked at him.

Thanks. For everything, she said.

They just looked at each other for a little while. He hated the way she was looking so sad. He hugged her; she kissed him and went to bed. 

***

She’s awake before he is, every morning. Today is a quite day, or will be, as she’s still in her pajamas, putting jam on a nicely toasted piece of whole wheat. He walks to her chair, grips the back of it and leans over to plant a kiss on her cheek. She smiles.

“Mornin’, My Duke,” she says, eying him as he saunters to his side of the table and then looks back at her toast, putting it down and picking up another.

“Good morning, my dear,” he replies. She gets up with her plate and walks down to his end of the table and sits next to him. She puts both elbows on the table, leaning over a bit, taking a bite of her toast, and winks at him. He smiles back winningly.

Yes, behind every great man is a great woman…and Barbara is a great woman.


End file.
